Women Entrepreneurs: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Entrepreneurship as a strategy to promote enterprise can be successful only if the same is duly imparted and conscientiously induced. This argument holds strong particularly when such a strategy is being tried on women. In the present context many of the theories dealing with entrepreneurship has seen a divergence from practice. It is seen that many entrepreneurs are motivated on their own to start their own enterprises. Many of these entrepreneurs actually do not receive any structured entrepreneurial input. They learn the same through trial and error. Keeping these views on entrepreneurship, this article deals with the problems, which these self-motivated women entrepreneurs confront, and then highlights the prospects and the future challenges. The article establishes the role entrepreneurial training can play in making the ventures initiated by these self-motivated women self-sustaining. The article identifies the concern areas of these women who are in business and also proposes what kind of entrepreneurial training would be ideal. The authors feel that when more women initiate businesses without such formal training, one should probably then start investing resources into making them stand on their own. The article has also identified certain special factors and problems women in business generally confront and the gendered root of such problems. The suggestion is that these problems could be taken care of through investing in building network and alliances.